One More Reason to Fight the Right Wing’s War on Women - The Portrayal of Women in Advertising and on Television Through the Decades

Guest Post by Ebbtide

After writing my post on the ongoing, escalating War on Women being waged through legislation at all levels, on all fronts, by the Right Wing, I was asked to make a presentation to my political peeps relating to Women’s History Month.

Knowing the wingers are always talking about “taking back our country” to those halcyon days of the 1950s (or, in Rick Santorum’s case, the 1650s), I looked into how women were portrayed in advertising and on television through the decades.

I’ve been involved in advertising throughout my career, but some of these ads shocked me with their condescending, insulting attitude toward women. I now invite you to stroll through the decades with me to further impress upon everyone how important it is for women (and the men who truly care about women) to move FORWARD, not back.

In the 1950s, women didn’t have much of a voice. Most were stay-at-home moms, and those who were in the workforce were primarily in subordinate positions to men.

On television, women were homemakers, wearing shirtwaist dresses and pearls as they went about their daily housewifely duties on such shows as Father Knows Best, Ozzie and Harriet, Leave It to Beaver, The Honeymooners (nothing says respect like Ralph saying, with clenched fist, “To the moon, Alice”), Make Room for Daddy.

Advertising at the time, had basically two ways to portray women—The first was as dim-witted, emotional housefrau.

Those early “Mad Men” thought women would be delighted receiving appliances for gifts, and when it came to medicating women, two products stood out in my search that truly caused me to gasp.

One was this wonder drug that could get that pregnant, puking with morning sickness, mother-to-be out of bed and back to where she belonged, cooking for her man.

The other was a whole series of ads for Lysol, which was recommended (I kid you not) as a feminine hygiene product.

Even when 1950s women weren’t in the kitchen, they were suffering all sorts of indignities

And, if they had the audacity to enter the workforce…

The actual text in the Pitney-Bowes ad tells the tale of a secretary who fought progress that her super-smart boss was suggesting. Once she realized his superior intelligence, she welcomed the machine with open arms, saying, “Kinda cute, ain’t it…now the mail is out early enough so I get to the girls’ room early enough to hear all of the dirt.”

(full text here)

THE 60's
The 1960s was a tumultuous decade, with the JFK, RFK and MLK assassinations, the passage of the Civil Rights Act, the rise of the hippie counterculture and the beginning of what is termed the “second wave of feminism” more concerned with equality and ending discrimination against women than with voting issues.

On television, many 50s shows continued, and were joined by popular shows where women could only succeed by having magical powers, like I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched. Then there was Julie on the Mod Squad, That Girl (a career girl, but still so reliant on her boyfriend, Donald, and her dad) and finally, in 1968, a woman of color (and a single, employed mother) as a lead character who was not a servant,  when Julia hit the airwaves.

But Madison Avenue was a bit behind with ads like

THE 70's
The 1970s brought us Watergate, Nixon’s resignation, Jim Jones—Jonestown, Microwaves, VCRs, the Sony Walkman and the fiftieth anniversary of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment (which legalized female suffrage). 1972 was the year of the Equal Rights Amendment (passed both houses, but not ratified by enough states—thanks, Phyllis Schlafly), and 1973 brought Roe v Wade. Helen Reddy’s “I Am Woman” became somewhat of an anthem for feminists, and TV women had careers, lived alone and were single mothers as shows The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Alice, Maude, One Day at a Time, Laverne and Shirley and Rhoda became popular.

In advertising, the 70s got off to a slow start in the portrayal of women…

But by the end of the decade, women were beginning to be portrayed as capable, competent forces to be reckoned with.

THE 80's
In the 1980s, we experienced yuppies, personal computers and the startup of MTV (great bit of trivia—the first video on MTV was “Video Killed the Radio Star.”)

There were more women in the workplace than ever before, and women keeping their maiden names became more popular.

Women on television shows were professionals like Cagney & Lacey (although it took 8 years to get that show on the air after they fired the first Cagney for not being feminine enough), strong, capable Vietnam War nurses on China Beach, and lawyer Claire Huxtable on The Cosby Show. Women’s supportive relationships were portrayed on such shows as Kate and Allie, Designing Women and the Golden Girls. And there was the ultimate strong woman in the character of Murphy Brown.

Aside from the mostly terrible hairdos, women were featured in advertising as having come into their own, and women of color received recognition as achievers.

The 90's

In the 1990s email became popular for communication, more and more people had cell phones and the Spice Girls sang about girl power. The Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas imbroglio as well as Clinton and Monicagate put focus on the trials of women in the workplace, and a record number of women were elected to high office in the US.

However, in 1992, the "Year of the Woman," when President George H. W. Bush was asked when his party might nominate a woman for President he said "This is supposed to be the year of the women in the Senate. Let's see how they do. I hope a lot of them lose.”

Women on television were lawyers (Allie McBeal), judges (Judging Amy), self-supporting actresses (Cybil) and self-empowered individuals (Ellen.)

Although women were still often portrayed in bikinis, they were held up as smart and capable (and even able to buy their own Rolexes.)

The 2000's

This decade is fresh in our minds—Hillary Clinton made a serious, realistic run for President (OK—that other thing did set us back with her vice-presidential nod), Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the House, and Lilly Ledbetter brought the whole issue of pay inequality to life.

In advertising, appliances no longer tied women to the kitchen, and they were portrayed as enjoying leisure and “adult beverages” just like a man.

But as that decade and the new one we’re currently in progressed, for every

Gilmore Girls, Harry’s Law, The Good Wife and The Closer, there’s America’s Next Top Model, The Bachelor, Jersey Shore, all the Real Housewives franchises, and horrors like the Duggars and that other ridiculous show that took place in Alaska.

And, (with apologies to those who love it—I personally can’t stand the show) Mad Men. As Marie Wilson, wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Post "it is difficult and painful to see the ways in which women and men dealt with each other and with power. It's painful because this behavior is not as far back in our past as we would like to think. Our daughters continually get the messages that power still comes through powerful men. And unfortunately being pretty is still a quality that can get you on the ladder-though it still won't take you to the top." (see Palin, Sarah for further reference!)

Two Steps Forward—How Many Steps Backward?

And now, as I wrote in my earlier post on the subject, there is a multi-front, full throttle War on Women going on, brought to you by ALEC and their wingnut representatives in Washington and in state governments across the country.

So, in honor of Women’s History Month, I ask every woman, and every man who cares about women, to spread the word and share the power—to shout from the rooftops that we’ve come a long way, and we’re not about to go back to being second-class citizens.

To repeat the sentiment of my original post:

Note by Kathleen

Thank you Ebbtide -- this is an excellent post to round up Women's History Month. 

If you haven't done so already, and Ebbtide's thoughtful and revealing post has stirred you into action, please do not forget that on 28 April, 2012 you can stand up against the recent blatant attacks on women by joining in actions which are taking place in every state across the USA to say "Enough is Enough".


More information can be found about actions in your own state at the following links:


Unite Against the War on Women

Facebook Unite Against the War on Women

Overseas Americans can join this group.

WOW - Overseas Supporters on Facebook

It’s Women’s History Month, And So Far It Certainly Has Been (Hysterical) Historical

Guest Post By Ebbtide

“Feminism is the radical notion that women are people. People call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat or a prostitute."                                                    --Rebecca West      

 It's interesting that I actually wrote this article, including the above quote, more than a week before the whole Limbaugh/Fluke/prostitute/slut debacle. I guess it shouldn’t have been a surprise when it all happened, but it still caught me somewhat offguard that:

1. In 2012, we are re-arguing the whole topic of women’s rights and human sexuality.

2. The Right Wing has become so puritanical, the Puritans would have told them to “lighten up already.”

Where was I? Oh, yes, Rebecca West.

Rebecca West died in 1983, at the age of 91, and probably went to her death believing that women had won the major battles in fighting for their rights and equality. She’d probably be turning over in her grave to see what is going on today. (Of course, she was British, so her eternal rest might not be quite as disturbed as if she’d been on the US women’s battlefields.)

The Republicans are waging a war against women.  

I’m only going to touch briefly on the anti-choice noise that is going on with the plethora of “personhood” and “heartbeat” bills and other nonsense being pushed by Republicans around the county. Let’s first take a look at the incredible assault currently being launched by the Right Wing on women’s equality, women’s health, women’s rights.

 

Here are just a few of their anti-women words and actions of the past year or so. Some of these bills have been defeated, some changed to tone them down before passage—but the mindset of the Right comes through loud and clear.

               

Ø      November, 2010

           Senate Republicans voted unanimously against a bill that would work to ensure          fair pay for women, the Paycheck Fairness Act. The vote was 58-41.     

           

Ø     January, 2011

"No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act," a bill with 173 mostly Republican co-sponsors that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) dubbed a top priority in the new Congress, contained a provision that would rewrite the rules to limit drastically the definition of rape and incest in these cases. According to Mother Jones  http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/01/republican-plan-redefine-rape-abortion “With this legislation, which was introduced last week by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Republicans propose that the rape exemption be limited to "forcible rape." This would rule out federal assistance for abortions in many rape cases, including instances of statutory rape, many of which are non-forcible. For example: If a 13-year-old girl is impregnated by a 24-year-old adult, she would no longer qualify to have Medicaid pay for an abortion.”

Ah yes, that’s just what we needed on the floor of the House, a discussion about what constitutes “forcible rape” in the eyes of a brilliant group of old men.

Ø     February, 2011

Not to be outdone by their federal brethren in their effort to keep women down, Minnesota Republicans decided to take a look at a more than 25 year old equal pay act. Per Legal Momentum http://legalmomentum.typepad.com/blog/2011/02/minnesota-republicans-introduce-legislation-to-repeal-pay-equity-act.html

“If there was any doubt about whether discrimination against women in the workforce persists, Minnesota Republicans have stepped in to clear up the debate. In a shocking attack against working women, Minnesota Republicans have introduced legislation that would repeal the 1984 Local Government Pay Equity Act (LGPEA), which ensures that women and men are paid the same.”

Ø     February, 2011

State Rep. Bobby Franklin of Georgia introduced a bill that would require proof that a miscarriage occurred naturally. If a woman can’t prove that her miscarriage–or spontaneous abortion–occurred without intervention, she could face felony charges.

Some of the more ridiculous/insane wording in the bill include:

“Justice Blackmun, writing for the majority in Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973),

wrote: 'when those trained in the respective disciplines of medicine, philosophy, and theology are unable to arrive at any consensus, the judiciary, at this point in the development of man's knowledge, is not in a position to speculate as to the answer [to the question of when life begins].

“The General Assembly knows the answer to that difficult question, and that answer is life begins at the moment of conception.”

http://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/en-US/display/31965

Yes, folks—you read that right—the Georgia General Assembly knows better than those trained in the respective disciplines of medicine, philosophy, and theology. So who are we, mere peons, to question their authority?

Care.2.com  http://www.care2.com/causes/georgia-rep-investigate-miscarriage.html#ixzz1mrvVuQG1 explains it in all of its misogynist glory “Franklin wants to create a Uterus Police to investigate miscarriages, and requires that any time a miscarriage occurs, whether in a hospital or without medical assistance, it must be reported and a fetal death certificate issued. If the cause of death is unknown, it must be investigated. If the woman can’t tell how it happened, than those Uterus Police can ask family members and friends how it happened. Hospitals are required to keep records of anyone who has a spontaneous abortion and report it. Yup, we’ve been waiting for someone to suggest this–and Franklin has. Needless to say, there are no exceptions allowed. Not for rape victims. Not for incest victims. Not to save the life and health of the mother (the fetus must get equal care).”

Ø     April 2011

Sixteen states have introduced legislation similar to Arizona's SB 1070, the controversial immigration law blocked by a federal judge last July. Legal Momentum submitted an amicus curiae brief in that case, which detailed the severe harm SB 1070 would have caused immigrant women and their children.

http://legalmomentum.typepad.com/blog/2011/04/hb-1070-copycat-bills-threaten-health-and-safety-of-immigrant-women-and-children-.html

The summer of 2011, saw those pesky lunatics conservatives quite busy advancing their attacks on women’s rights, going after everyone from a high school cheerleader who had the audacity to refrain from cheering her accused rapist to teenage mothers of stillborn infants.  

Think Progress covered several of these cases in stunning detail. http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/07/01/256823/pregnant-women-criminal-charges/

Ø     May 6, 2011

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court declined to review the case of a recent Texas high school student who was kicked off her school’s cheerleading squad after she refused to chant the name of a basketball player who had allegedly raped her. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, one of the most conservative courts in the country, ruled last November that the victim — who is known only as H.S. — had no right to refuse to applaud her attacker because as a cheerleader in uniform, she was an agent of the school. To add insult to injury, the Fifth Circuit dismissed her case as “frivolous” and sanctioned the girl, forcing her family to pay the school district’s $45,000 legal fees.  

Ø     Jul 1, 2011

“In Alabama at least 40 cases have been brought under the state’s “chemical endangerment” law. Introduced in 2006, the statute was designed to protect children whose parents were cooking methamphetamine in the home and thus putting their children at risk from inhaling the fumes. Amanda Kimbrough is one of the women who have been ensnared as a result of the law being applied in a wholly different way.[...]The baby was delivered by caesarean section prematurely in April 2008 and died 19 minutes after birth. Six months later Kimbrough was arrested at home and charged with “chemical endangerment” of her unborn child on the grounds that she had taken drugs during the pregnancy – a claim she has denied.     

“Rennie Gibbs was 15 when she became pregnant and lost her baby in a stillbirth. Prosecutors charged her with a “depraved heart murder” after they discovered she had used cocaine, although there was “no evidence that drug abuse had anything to do with the baby’s death.” She now faces life in prison in Mississippi.   

“At least 38 states have introduced fetal homicide laws that were intended to be used against violent attacks by third parties like abusive male partners. But in South Carolina, only one case has been brought against a man for assaulting a pregnant woman, while up to 300 women have been arrested under the law, according to the National Advocates for Pregnant Women.”     

Once the leaves started changing colors and falling, the Republicans got back to

important issues of national security, or as they like to call it, protecting life—as

long as it is a life in utero and not, heaven forbid, that of a breathing, sentient   being.

Ø     Oct 12, 2011

Think Progress http://thinkprogress.org/health/2011/10/12/341070/house-gop-proposes-so-called-let-women-die-bill-that-lets-hospitals-deny-life-saving-care/ reported on the ironically titled Protect Life Act, which could be more aptly described as the Let Women Die Act. “Under H.R. 358, dubbed the “Protect Life Act” and sponsored by Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.), hospitals that don’t want to provide abortions could refuse to do so, even for a pregnant woman with a life-threatening complication that requires a doctor terminate her pregnancy.” 

Things slowed down during the holiday season (hey, those on the Right were VERY busy dealing with the War on Christmas, don’t you know.) But apparently their New Year’s resolutions included—Make sure those loud-mouthed hussies who were asking for it  abused women know their place.

Ø     February 2012

Every Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted against the reauthorization of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act.

           

            It will probably come as no surprise to anyone that the Republicans on the Senate Judiciary

            Committee are well known bastions of support and fairness for women:

         

            Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member, R-Iowa

            Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah

            Jon Kyl, R-Arizona

            Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama

            Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina

            John Cornyn, R-Texas

            Michael S. Lee, R-Utah

            Tom Coburn, R-Oklahoma

And just last month, things really heated up, when the Virginia legislature went all in on a bill that will require women seeking a LEGAL abortion to undergo, without consent, a medically unnecessary transvaginal ultrasound procedure.

An amendment by Del. David Englin, D-Alexandria, would have allowed medical professionals to determine whether images can be obtained without being penetrated by equipment used in the ultrasound.

Women would have to give written consent to such a probe under Englin’s amendments, but not to sonograms that are not invasive. The amendment failed on 64-34 vote, setting the bill up for final House passage.

So doctors in Virginia would be required to perform an unnecessary, invasive procedure without the consent of their patient, but with a nod and a wink from that venerable body of old Republican men, the Virginia legislature.

And, it was A-OK with right-wing mouthpieces like Dana Loesch who said:

“uh, there were individuals saying, “Oh what about the Virginia rape? The rapes that, the forced rapes of women who are pregnant?” What!? Wait a minute, they had no problem having similar to a trans-vaginal procedure when they engaged in the act that resulted in their pregnancy.”

Yep, old Dana was proffering the argument that if you’ve ever had consensual sex, then from that moment on, anyone is allowed to insert whatever into your vagina and it’s the same thing.

When Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs called her on it, quoting her verbatim, she responded by saying that wasn’t what she said and calling him a pervert. 

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/39937_CNNs_Dana_Loesch_Equates_Mandatory_Trans-Vaginal_Ultrasound_to_Having_Sex

Once that brilliant bit of legislation passed both houses and crazy Right Wing zealot Vice-Presidential hopeful Governor McDonnell saw that the concept of basically forcible rape by virtue of the Virginia legislature was NOT being welcomed with open arms around his state or across the country, he used his big man-hands to revise the bill to give women a choice of what type of ultrasound they would prefer to be subjected to. (Would you prefer arsenic or hemlock?) Of course, he acted completely surprised at what was in the bill until it had been discussed for weeks, and until protests outside his office “opened his eyes” to what was going on. Sure, Bob.

Arguing Contraception in 2012? Really? Really?

I won’t even go into the absurd Issa investigation that took place, wherein a contingent of old men shared their innate wisdom about women’s health. And then came Sandra Fluke, who testified at the second go-round (where someone with a D after their name decided that perhaps a WOMAN might be able to offer some insight into a WOMAN’S issue.)

In brief, she testified about uses of birth control pills for medical issues beyond contraception, which of course, the Right Wing heard as “she’s a slut and a prostitute who just wants to have sex with anything that walks, 24 hours a day, and she wants to government to subsidize her wanton behavior.”

Are these people really that stupid? I think not. I think it is just the latest salvo in the ongoing War Against Women. But this time, the women (and sane men) fought back, particularly after that paragon of manly virtue, Rush Limbaugh, spent three days maligning Ms. Fluke and proving that he has no clue as to how contraception even works—positing (his word in his non-apologetic apology) that the more sex you have, the more pills you have to take. Rush, get a clue. Or better yet, SHUT UP, you ignorant blowhard!  A concerted effort to call Limbaugh out on his hideous comments, saw seven of his sponsors drop their advertising from his show within a few days. (this is an ongoing effort, so things may have changed by now.) This appeared on Proflowers Facebook shortly before they announced that they were suspending advertising on Limbaugh’s show.

Of course, the usual suspects like Hannity and O’Reilly rushed to defend Limbaugh, but

amazingly, like Dana Loesch’s reaction to the Virginia ultrasound law, WOMEN on the Right (not IN the right, but ON the right, as in—heading over the cliff) joined Rush in his excoriation of Sandra Fluke.

The ever-lovely Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugged infamy, shared these delightful words, “By all accounts she is banging it five times a day. She sounds more like a prostitute to me. She must have an gyno bill to choke a horse (pun intended). Slut was a softball.”

And the ever-thoughtful Michelle Malkin clarified the issue with, “I’ll tell you why Rush was wrong. Young Sandra Fluke of Georgetown Law is not a "slut." She’s a moocher and a tool of the Nanny State. She’s a poster girl for the rabid Planned Parenthood lobby…”

Patricia Heaton (she played Raymond’s wife on “Everybody Loves Raymond”) had a field day on Twitter entertaining all her “Tweatons” with hateful comments about Fluke, before shutting down her Twitter account (or, in RWNJ terminology, “Driven off Twitter by liberal haters.”

And, of course, Michele (one l) Bachmann hilariously said just a week or so ago, “The Republican Party is extremely pro-women.”

Who ARE These People?

Just to touch briefly on these personhood bills and ballot initiatives that are popping up all over the place. (although, even the most conservative state in the country, Mississippi, voted overwhelmingly against a personhood amendment. But, the wingers will be back later, I’m sure.)  In many cases, the way these bills will not only be a backdoor means of outlawing abortion, but will severely curtail the use of most forms of contraception. Not counting the failed bill in Mississippi, personhood bills and ballot initiatives have been introduced in 13 states:

Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. 

An excellent site to review the language of these bills and keep up to date on their progress is http://www.resolve.org/get-involved/personhood-bills-and-ballot-initiatives.html.

And finally, what sayeth the GOP candidates?

Graphic courtesy of our friend Azure Ghost

Now let’s take a look at some of the positions/comments made by the current crop of would-be Republican Presidential candidates, shall we? Romney doesn’t have much to say that directly relates to women’s rights, although everything he does say, he then recants a few hours later and recalibrates his position, so there’s not much point in any of his quotes.

Newt, with his sordid history with women who are and are not his wife, doesn’t have much to say directly about women’s rights, preferring to couch his anti-woman rhetoric in a more “anything that relates to women’s health options is a direct, blasphemous attack on the Catholic Church, of which I have, after screwing anything that walks for the past 40 or so years, become a de-facto spokesperson” kind of way.

But Santorum, oh dear Rick, who is currently a FRONTRUNNER (I know, it’s hard for me to fathom as well) has plenty to say, and Ron Paul gets in a few digs of his own.

Ø     Santorum and Gingrich would like to zero out funds for programs including Title X, the nation's only program dedicated solely to providing family planning services and contraception to low-income women.

Ø     From the NY Times Editorial Board before the Iowa primary: “But the message from Iowa was crystal clear: Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Jon Huntsman Jr., Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry all stand ready to restrict a woman's right to make her own childbearing decisions and deny essential health care to millions of women. The Republican field is united in its determination to overturn Roe v. Wade; to appoint Supreme Court justices supportive of that goal; and to end government payments to Planned Parenthood for family planning services, cancer screening and other vital health services provided to low-income women. The candidates also want to reinstate the global gag rule that barred family planning groups abroad receiving federal money from even talking about abortion.”

Ø     Santorum, elaborating on why he opposed the revised version of the Obama contraception rule, he explained that he didn't believe insurance companies should cover contraception at all. "This has nothing to do with access," he said. "This is having someone pay for it, pay for something that shouldn't even be in an insurance plan anyway because it is not, really an insurable item. This is something that is affordable, available. You don't need insurance for these types of relatively small expenditures.”

Ø     Santorum on contraception “One of the things I will talk about, that no president has talked about before, is I think the dangers of contraception in this country.” Santorum has also said, “Many of the Christian faith have said, well, that’s okay, contraception is okay. It’s not okay. It’s a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.”

Ø     Santorum on women: “The notion that college education is a cost-effective way to help poor, low-skill, unmarried mothers with high school diplomas or GEDs move up the economic ladder is just wrong.”…“Radical feminists have been making the pitch that justice demands that men and women be given an equal opportunity to make it to the top in the workplace.”

Ø     Ron Paul on equal pay for women: “The idea that the social do-gooder can legislate a system which forces industry to pay men and women by comparable worth standards boggles the mind...The concept of equal pay for equal work is...an impossible task.... By what right does the government assume the power to tell an airline it must hire unattractive women if it does not want to?”

Santorum went even further down the rabbit-hole a week or so ago, coming out against pre-natal testing, saying it leads to abortion. (In Santorum’s mind, everything a woman does, other than submit to marital sex for purposes of procreation leads either to abortion or a total decline of civilization as we know it—or more to the point, civilization as Pope Ricky would decree.)

To recap—in the words of that bald, lollipop sucking he-man (NO, not Paul, the Sweet Babeu), Telly Savalas:

“Who loves ya, baby?”

You can bet your bottom dollar, it isn’t the Republicans. So what say we spread the word to every woman (and every man who truly cares about women) we know?